As you may recall, we purchased a young flock of birds to add to our existing flock, effectively doubling their number. Unfortunately we didnt have time to think through where to put all these birds in a pinch, so they all went together in the existing egg laying spot.
It didnt take long, and all the green grass and plants were eaten or trampled. Too many birds in a smaller area does that. But now, with the reshuffling, the birds are back out on green pastures with plenty of grass and weeds, and of course, bugs!
What does this mean? you can expect the eggs immediately to take on a deeper orange color. The color of the yolks is directly related to the amount of greenery in the bird's diet. The more living green foods, the deeper orange and thicker the yolks are. The effect is almost immediate. So expect to see a change in the next delivery!
Here is the shot of the new locations, if you look way back in the center, you will see the chickens are now placed (in their laying trailer) right between the sheep and goats! There they have access to both pastures freely, and the abundance of bugs that both herds bring.
The grass back there is about 4 to 6 inches tall, so it will last a while! The trailer will move back and forth within that protected paddock to spread out the "fertilizer" and provide new grass continually.
While there is no verifiable health benefit of eggs that are grass fed from eggs that are grain fed, there is a noticeable difference. We are going to do out best to keep these girls on tall grass for the duration of the summer. And hopefully bring online our "bug barn" and its designed in supply of 100,000 mealworms per day! (stay tuned on that!)
No comments:
Post a Comment